Chuck vs the Practice Kiss
by Arathorn73
Summary: Fuller exploration of the practice kiss scene from Chuck vs. the Graviton. Chuck's thoughts and Sarah's thoughts, with a very Charah bias. One-off. Now two chapters!
1. Chuck's Thoughts

_Chuck's great. Some scenes just pull a guy in. This is from the 11/24 episode, Chuck vs. the Gravitron. Spoilers for the episode follow._

_I still own no part of Chuck._

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"OK, imagine that I am Jill." Sarah's words didn't really compute to Chuck. She and Jill were so very different. So very, very different. But, at the same time, it made sense, in a weird sort of way. They both seemed to be able to twist his heart with a look, so it wasn't all that different.

He barely heard Sarah's next words. "The moment is romantic. She's close to you. She's looking into your eyes." Which 'she' was this? Sarah had moved close to him, oh so very close, like she had on other occasions. It felt so right, so electric. Was that her training? Was that his emotions? Her emotions? Either way, Chuck could feel his pulse accelerating and his breaths shortening. Sarah's eyes were piercing into his. He always felt like she was reading the depths of his soul when she did that. He tried to read her eyes in return, but hers were unreadable. He thought he detected passion, but he dismissed it as just the skill of a consummate actress.

He tried to find his voice. "Got it …" Why was his mouth so dry? Every time Sarah beckoned, he came like a chastened puppy. But he couldn't help himself. He tried again, "OK, you…" You what? It wasn't supposed to be about Sarah. It was about Jill. The mission. Focus on the mission. "I got that." Chuck was panicking. This was too real for him. He always got lost in Sarah. He tried to make a joke to lighten the mood. "I'm trying not to be distracted by the oh-so-romantic secret base."

His attempt at lightening the mood failed. Sarah broke eye contact, freeing half the synapses in his brain, though he still felt addled. However, the mood didn't lighten for long. Sarah grabbed a control and turned out the lights. Suddenly, the castle felt less cold and foreboding and much more romantic.

"Concentrate," Sarah said. That was easy for her to say. He was still in love with her and he knew it. How could he concentrate on Jill and acting? With Sarah? "Keep looking into my eyes." Her eyes. If he looked there, previous experience told him he wouldn't really be able to process anything that was said. Those blue pools drew him in. Instead, he looked to the heavens for help and strength and inspiration. "Don't look up!" Sarah knew him. She knew what he'd do. She was aware of his foibles, his idiosyncrasies, his habits. She really knew him. She proved it to him again, "And if you can't hold Jill's stare, look at her lips."

Chuck looked at her lips. Her full, succulent lips. He'd tasted those lips. He knew how tender, firm, and exhilarating they were. He knew what they felt like against his lips, knew the passionate kisses they could give. He saw the red, the moisture, the curves. He could focus on her lips. "Good!" Oh. Not Sarah's lips. Jill's lips. Jill, whom he had thought could give him a real life but it turned out she was a spy too. He mentally kicked himself. Focus on Jill. Focus. Jill.

"Now move her hair back over her ear." He heard the words and reacted without conscious though. Move Jill's hair behind her ears. His hand reached out and delicately pushed the silvery blonde strands of Jill's hair behind her ear. Wait, Jill's hair wasn't blonde. But the hair he was pushing was blonde. And he was loved it. He could see himself moving that hair every day for the rest of his life.

"And when you start to kiss, focus again on her, and just before …" He focused back on her. On Sarah. The woman he was about to kiss. The woman he wanted to kiss. The woman he was afraid to kiss. Did she want to kiss him? No, it was just the mission. Wasn't it?

Sarah's calm, relentless voice continued, "your lips are about to meet …." Oh, he could feel it. He remembered it. He could barely her voice over the pounding of his pulse in his temples and in his fingertips, which still clung to the memory of her blonde hair. Sarah's hair, not Jill's hair.

"Close your eyes…." He closed them. He tried to make himself visualize Jill, kissing Jill, even after she had betrayed him a second time. He couldn't. Sarah's face filled his mind. Sarah's eyes, Sarah's lips, Sarah's smile, Sarah's voice. She surrounded him, cocooned him, comforted him. She also scared the daylights out of him. He wanted her so badly.

He leaned in, his eyes shut, his mind and body filled with anticipation. The very air seemed to crackle. His lips were puckered, gently, anticipating the passion of the moment. The kiss with Sarah he so desperately still wanted. And was it his imagination? Could he feel her moving in towards him? Would they really kiss? Was she caught in the moment, too? Was it not acting?

"OK, good." Her voice pierced his thoughts, pierced and punctured the balloon of anticipation. He drew a ragged breath and pulled back from the encounter. His eyes opened. Sarah looked a little flushed, a little bothered. Why was that?

"Good, you're all set." Set? Set for what? Oh… This wasn't a Sarah and Chuck thing. This was a mission thing. A get-him-ready-for-Jill thing. A training-the-rookie-spy thing. That wasn't what he wanted.

"Huhh…m?" The sound escaped. He didn't want it to. It sounded so dumb, so lost. The fact that he was lost didn't matter. Just being around Sarah made him so vulnerable, though. He hated it, while he reveled in it at the same time.

"Oh, yeah. Good." He drew back from the moment, mentally and emotionally. Could he handle this? Could he keep working with Sarah? Could they just be friends? Why did it have to be so hard? And what about Jill?

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	2. Sarah's Thoughts

_Chuck's great. Some scenes just pull a guy in. This is from the 11/24 episode, Chuck vs. the Gravitron. Spoilers for the episode follow. Chapter 1 is Chuck's perspective. Now it's Sarah's turn. I hadn't intended to do this, but I got a lot of requests, so here it is._

_I still own no part of Chuck._

Sarah had trained others in the art of seduction before. It wasn't that hard. Nearly any agent could do it, given the right motivation, the right target, the right mark. But Chuck wasn't really an agent. He didn't have the necessary mental background. She needed to be both agent and friend. The former was easy, the latter difficult and unfamiliar.

"OK, imagine that I am Jill." Had he imagined that during the night at the hotel with Jill? No, he was lost to her. They were friends, nothing more. It was probably better and safer for them both that way. And right now, he needed an agent and a friend, not a jealous, jilted ex.

"The moment is romantic. She's close to you. She's looking into your eyes." Sarah deliberately moved close to Chuck and captured his eyes with hers. It would make him uncomfortable, but that was part of the plan. Training under conditions as near to actual as possible was important, wasn't it? The thrill she got out of the proximity and the eye contact was immaterial, right? She was just an agent. Just a friend.

"Got it …" She'd obviously succeeded in making him uncomfortable. He was basically babbling. Why was it just so darn adorable when he did it? "OK, you…" Sarah mentally smiled. He was thinking about her. He wasn't completely under Jill's spell yet. At least, with the pressure up, she broke through. No matter how often it happened, she always got a thrill from seeing her effect on men in general and Chuck in particular. "I got that." He didn't have it. But it was OK that he thought he did. Confidence, real or feigned, was an important part of the façade. A façade which broke when he added, "I'm trying not to be distracted by the oh-so-romantic secret base."

He was trying to lighten the mood, but she couldn't have that. If he was going through with this plan, he needed to be as ready as she could make him. So she broke eye contact, freeing half the synapses in her brain, though she still felt addled. She quickly grabbed a control and dimmed the lights. It was important to his safety that she continue. It was important to the agent to prepare him, to the woman to dazzle him, to the person to just continue with him.

"Concentrate," she said, knowing how difficult it would be for him. With her or with Jill. His heart led too often, which was charming but dangerous. He needed to be able to use his head to be aware of the danger. "Keep looking into my eyes." Of course, that meant she'd be looking into his eyes. Those dangerous eyes that held promises of a future she couldn't let herself dream of. But she was in control; the agent was in control. And she knew how he'd react. Before his eyes had really begun to trace upwards, she quickly barked "Don't look up!" He needed to know. He needed to be safe. Breaking eye contact to heaven was a sure sign of loss. What was the old suggestion? Oh, yes. "And if you can't hold Jill's stare, look at her lips." His eyes fell to her lips, letting her study his eyes without the returning penetrating stare. She'd long ago learned to not let her thoughts and emotions reach her face, but Chuck could read even the smallest of signs in her – he just knew her that well. It thrilled and excited and scared her to know someone was that close to the real her.

He needed more encouragement, though. It couldn't be about her. It had to be about him. "Good!" He really was doing well. If Jill really had an ounce of affection for him, she'd be moved by that look. If not, well, it would still probably fool her.

"Now move her hair back over her ear." His swallow was audible. But his hand moved, as if drawn by a string, to push her hair back behind her ear. Was that how he touched Jill? Ha! Jill had obviously not had any training. Would she even really be able to recognize the signs in Chuck? Would she be capable of setting up something so orchestrated? Well, why not? The dance of love wasn't unique to spies. Women and men all over the world did it. Regardless, she had to continue.

"And when you start to kiss, focus again on her, and just before …" His eyes sought hers again. Their looks collided, which took her breath away. She wasn't used to that, but she was able to recover quickly. How could he still take her breath away? Hadn't they agreed to just be friends? Wasn't she training him to meet another woman? Why did it still hit her like that?

She forced herself to continue calmly, "your lips are about to meet …." She could feel a flush rising across her face. She'd always been able to do that on command, to give a mark the feeling that he was causing reactions she didn't feel. Now she was feeling reactions she didn't want to project. Irony really sucked sometimes.

"Close your eyes…." Her voice knew what to do, even if her mind wasn't as fully on the task as she thought it should be. She noted how immediately his eyes closed. He was almost fully under her spell. If he was a mark, she had him. Heck, she could have him now. She could make him forget all about Jill and any other woman. It would be easy. She'd done it before, to other men.

He leaned in, his eyes shut, his mind and body filled with anticipation. The very air seemed to crackle. His lips were puckered, gently, anticipating the passion of the moment. The kiss he so desperately wanted. The kiss she so desperately wanted. The kiss she was leaning in towards, knowing it was wrong. A kiss now would solve so many problems. It would wrap him around her finger. It would satisfy her desire to be with him.

But it was wrong. It wasn't how she wanted Chuck. He wasn't a mark. He was a man, a man she could imagine really falling for. Heck, a man she had already fallen for. Viewing him as just a mark would be a disservice to them both. If they were to be together, it had to be on terms other than blind devotion. It had to be mutual. Mustering all her resolve, she dragged herself back and forced herself to stop the moment. She was worried it was going to be a croak, but her "OK, good" sounded nice and level, like the agent she had to be.

Sensing his disappointment, which mirrored her own, she pulled back further. She let the agent take over. "Good, you're all set." Her heart was pounding. She'd almost fallen in, almost showed her hand again, almost let herself go. That was dangerous. Doubly so after he'd told her they could/should only be friends. Plus, the threat of reassignment always loomed over her. She had to stay professional when he needed her to be.

"Huhh…m?" Even his stuttering titillated her. She seriously doubted he was thinking about Jill. But maybe, just maybe, she had taught him something that would save his life tonight. That made it all worthwhile.

"Oh, yeah. Good." Good. Not really, though. She wanted more than good. She wanted it all – she wanted fabulous. Fabulous which was almost defined by the man she had just taught to kiss somebody else.

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